Mochitsuki 2012 - Mochi Making with the Family for New Years

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As we've done since before I was born, my family and friends came together on the Saturday before New Years Day to make mochi - a Japanese pounded rice patties used on New Year's day to give you good luck, longevity, good times, and a shot at George Clooney (what? that's not the promise of mochi? Hmmm...)

As I've described in posts from 2011, 2010, 2008, 2007, my family gets together annually to make hella mochi. Hella.

This year we cooked 200 pounds of rice. Yes, that is 20 bags of rice. Luckily, my friend Rosie was on winter break from Johnson & Wales. She washed all 200 pounds of rice! She's starting to look Asian now, huh? :)

We woke up to RAIN. What? This is Los Angeles! We haven't had rain on mochi day for years so we were pretty disappointed. The annual bouncy house had to be cancelled - so sad because you can get a good workout in the bouncy house (if you are in Los Angeles, try Planet Bouncy - Owner Sergei is a UCLA Bruin and they did a great job last year).

But is pouring rain going to stop a bunch of Japanese Americans with determination? No. We put up some pop tents and rain jackets. Above, my cousin, brother and cousin-in-law make mochi (this process is repeated for about 6 hours). Hot rice goes into the grinder and gets extruded. The mochi is cut off, and then handed to the catcher who rolls it into a round shape before placing the hot mochi onto a full-sheet pan.

This year I set up a Mochi Tasting Table. I saw it at a church function and thought it was a great way to introduce people to the different ways you can eat mochi...however, everyone just stuck with the standards: shoyu (soy sauce), sugar and kinako. We had: nori (seaweed), ponzu sauce (wasn't even opened), shoyu (soy sauce - light salt (next year, I need to have both the "red" and "green" bottle because some like the full sodium effect), kinako (roasted soybean flour & sugar), grated daikon radish, wasabi paste, and natto (fermented soybeans). Natto is a crazy very acquired taste - I find it gross, but one person did eat their mochi with it! Somehow, there is a Diet Coke in my photo...ignore that.

Mochi, mochi, mochi...

We ate and ate and ate - this is only a few of dishes. In the upper left hand corner is Spam Musubi...I'll have a post (and giveaway) soon. Someone "new" to mochi making (we always get a few new friends each year) brought Beer Can Chicken...they are totally invited back. My cousin grilled Korean BBQ at 8 am, in the rain, before coming over. That's dedication.

There are pans and pans of mochi by the end of the day. We pack it up and most people deliver it to friends so they can have fresh mochi on New Year's morning.

Although the house is covered with mochiko flour and I'm exhausted by the end of the day, it is so worth it to see lots of relatives and friends. And since we had rain this year, I think we're guaranteed clear skies for the next ten years.

Check out my friend JustJenn's post about the day! She has a lot more "process" photos so if you are interested to each step, check it out.

Happy New Year! Next up... I go to Jenn's house for a New Year's feast (with mochi, of course!)

- mary the food librarian

Related mochi posts:
Fmaily Mochi making: 2011, 2010, 2008, 2007
Sweet mochi with red beans
Chocolate Brownie mochi
Zunda mochi
Blueberry Mochi cake